Christy:
I am asking for a friend who just received a bill for services rendered from 2014- present. These were behavioral health visits, so there are many dos (seen weekly) from 2014- present.

Medicare is primary and was billed timely, as the services were paid at 80% by them. Her 2ndry has a large deductible, so it did not pay the 20%.

She never received any bills from the provider until this week when she received a $655 bill for all of the coinsurance from 2014- present. Their reason was "no one was doing the billing until recently."

Is there any legal time frame in which providers must bill patients or write off the charges? She was certainly not expecting this huge bill ! We are in NY if that matters.

thanks for any help.

Michele:
Each state has their own laws regarding this but 2014 is not that old so most likely it is ok. I know it stinks and it's bad business. The provider risks alienating patients. But in the end the patient did know that they should have been billed so it's not a complete shock. If they had not billed the insurance and they were participating providers then that would be different. As long as the claims were billed and applied to the patient's deductible, they are liable.

Christy:
ok, good to know...thank you, Michele!

kristin:
I agree with Michele completely, but I have one thing to add...

It took them over two years to bill your friend. Had she been billed appropriately in that time, she would have had a more reasonable statement each month. I would have her call and set up a payment plan if she can't pay the whole amount at once. After all...they took their sweet time billing her, so I think she can take her sweet time paying them. ;)